European Cup winning stars Gordon Cowans, Tony Morley, Des Bremner and Colin Gibson, along with former Irish internationals Steve Staunton and Mark Kinsella will be among a strong line-up of legends when a star-studded Aston Villa Old Stars team play the 3rd fixture of their 50th anniversary year at Sutton Coldfield Town FC this coming Sunday.

Former Aston Villa captain and ex manager of Southampton and Walsall, Chris Nicholl, will be looking to extend his 2-years unbeaten reign as manager of the Aston Villa Old Stars team. Chris said, “since accepting the role offered to me by the Aston Villa FPA chairman Neil Rioch, I’ve really enjoyed managing the team and it’s a privilege to be only the 6th manager in the teams’ 50 year history. It’s given me the opportunity to manage a host of great former Villa stars, and I’m delighted to at last have Gordon Cowans in my team, who I tried to sign when I was manager at Southampton.” He went on, “bar a 1-1 draw last year, we’ve won every game since I became manager and I’ll be hoping we can continue that unbeaten run on Sunday.”

The Aston Villa Old Stars football team was founded in 1960 and since then, the team has played up to 25 fundraising matches in every year throughout the UK, and in Europe. 2009 marks the team’s 50th anniversary year, an incredible milestone that is unlikely to be equalled by any other club.

To date, the Aston Villa Former Players Association and Aston Villa Old Stars have together helped to raise over £4 million for charitable and deserving causes and they are widely recognised as the most advanced organisation of their type in the UK.

Admission to the game is by match programme available on the gate, and the Aston Villa Old Stars players will be available for autographs and photographs before and after the match. Proceeds from the match will be supporting the excellent work of Colron Boys Football Club based in Streetly, Sutton Coldfield, and the Aston Villa Former Players Association, whose core purpose is providing health & welfare assistance to former Aston Villa players in need.